A Counterfeit Saint Realm

Lei Mo had somehow become a Saint Realm Archmage who could not cast a single spell.

Still, it was not as though he had gained nothing. With his eyes closed, Lei Mo could actually sense eight Totem Pillars. Wait... eight? Then what was this thing in his hand?

And besides, he remembered the old warriors of the tribe saying that there were eight enormous Totem Pillars in the hall. Startled, Lei Mo hurriedly opened his eyes. One, two, three... seven, eight—nine!

No, no, my posture must be wrong. Again. He closed his eyes once more. Mm, definitely eight.

Terrified, Lei Mo dropped from the "great height" of three centimeters. After stumbling, he steadied himself, then froze again. What was going on?

Lei Mo clenched his fist and swung it hard. That was right—it still felt like the strength of a Seventh-Level Warrior.

He closed his eyes again and, following his instincts, slowly floated upward. This time, he rose more than ten centimeters.

He hurriedly landed and looked around. The Tauren brothers around him ignored him as usual. No one would pay attention to a two-meter-tall little runt playing some game of growing taller.

"What is going on? I can fly, so that means I'm in the Saint Realm."

"Huh? Why did I say Saint Realm? Which cultivation system did the Saint Realm belong to again?"

"Never mind! It must be leaning toward the system I know best."

"But I'm clearly still a Seventh-Level Warrior. Then this pillar must be behind it!"

Lei Mo touched the purple pillar again. As always, it felt like touching scales.

I can touch and see this pillar, so why can't my senses detect it? Wait, since when did I even have sensory abilities?

Lei Mo's heart was in turmoil. He quietly searched through the crowd, hoping to find Cairne and probe him for information.

But he could not find him. Perhaps he had gone somewhere to meditate and comprehend the Runes on the pillars.

Lei Mo forcibly suppressed the chaotic emotions in his heart and carefully observed the Runes on the purple pillar.

Gradually, Lei Mo truly sensed colored motes of light filling the air around him. There were countless kinds, jumbled together, impossible to distinguish.

The Tauren tribes had very little inheritance related to magic, and the Bloodhoof Tribe had none at all. Under such circumstances, Lei Mo had no idea how to absorb magical power.

However, Lei Mo had already vaguely guessed something, though he had no way to verify it. Other than floating and sensing his surroundings, he had gained nothing.

With no increase in strength or physical toughness, Lei Mo began circling the Purple Totem Pillar. A pillar more than ten meters in diameter still had quite a lot of surface area.

Lei Mo found a Rune he recognized: the Gravity Rune. However, this one was carved in the positive orientation. He studied it carefully, staring at it without blinking.

One day passed. Then three days. Vaguely, Lei Mo sensed a special fluctuation.

He did not know what Ancestral Spirit's Blessing was like. Everyone's experiences differed, so there was little useful reference.

He only knew that Rune Engravers were more likely to receive Ancestral Spirit's Blessing. Lei Mo guessed that this was because they had learned Rune engraving beforehand. Starting with a familiar Rune made it easier to sense that fluctuation.

Perhaps that was it. Lei Mo was merely letting his thoughts run wild. With the body of a Seventh-Level Warrior, going without food or water for over ten days was no problem.

That was also why Ancestral Spirit worship—or comprehension within the Hall of Ancestral Spirits—operated on a ten-day cycle.

Lei Mo continued wandering around the purple pillar, sometimes lowering his head and sometimes raising it. Though he did not dare fly again, he could still look up at the Runes higher above.

Lei Mo also wanted to display his strength, but he had no way to explain it. He did not want to be studied. His experiences on Earth had taught him the art of lying low.

In this strangely familiar world, the Bloodhoof Tribe was considered safe.

But that was only because he had not encountered enough of the world yet. Lei Mo knew that every world was ruled by the strong devouring the weak, by bloodshed.

Lei Mo neither intended nor dared to reveal all his secrets. Influenced by Huaxia's traditional culture, he decided it was better to lie low for now.

Over the next seven days, Lei Mo comprehended the Strength Rune, Gravity Rune, and Sturdiness Rune.

Feeling no hunger or discomfort whatsoever, he did not leave the Hall of Ancestral Spirits with the main group. Instead, he continued wandering around the Purple Totem Pillar.

The reason he did not go to the other pillars was twofold. On one hand, the purple pillar had the most numerous and complete Runes. On the other, there was no one here, while the other eight pillars were packed with people.

He had roughly guessed it already. Others could not see this Purple Totem Pillar, and it stood far enough away from the Totem Pillars on either side.

Lei Mo could even lie down directly against the pillar, and no one would care. In the eyes of others, this was simply an empty patch of ground.

Since that was the case, Lei Mo became even more enthusiastic about studying the Runes. Whenever an unfamiliar Rune stirred something within him, he silently memorized it and carefully comprehended it.

From time to time, he would take out a homemade beast-hair brush and scribble on the hide tucked into his robes. Without actually testing a Rune, there was a high chance he would not know its function.

Though the Runes he could comprehend carried obvious fluctuations, those fluctuations were too faint to determine what the Runes actually did.

He could roughly tell which Runes corresponded to Water Element Mysteries and which corresponded to Fire Element Mysteries. That was truly terrifying...

This Ancestral Court of the Tauren race held a great secret. It was not only this purple pillar; the eight other pillars were also incredibly formidable. Each one seemed to contain Runes corresponding to the Mysteries of a single set of Laws. Though those Runes were incomplete, it was still astonishing enough.

Most shocking of all, these Runes allowed someone with no understanding whatsoever of Laws and Mysteries to use those Laws and Mysteries without needing any knowledge of them.

It had the same effect as magic, yet it was still superior to magic, because when comprehending the Runes, one could sense a trace of Law fluctuations.

What kind of artifact was this? Had it truly been created by the Tauren ancestors?

And what was with the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing received by ordinary warriors? It allowed people who knew nothing of Laws and Mysteries to gain a certain improvement in Laws and Mysteries, thereby increasing their combat power.

Ah—this, this... wasn't it somewhat like an Angel Rebirth Pool? Could such a small Material Plane possess something like this?

It was simply unbelievable. Though this was countless times weaker than an Angel Rebirth Pool, it involved eight sets of Laws or Edicts.

And this purple one—Lei Mo still had not figured out how many sets of Runes were carved on the Purple Totem Pillar.

Most of the Runes gave Lei Mo no feeling at all, leaving him unable to judge them. And hadn't they said that Edicts had no specific Mysteries? Then could these pillars contain Edict Runes?

There were only seven elemental types, yet there were eight Totem Pillars.

And this Purple Totem Pillar seemed somewhat like an all-element Angel Rebirth Pool. There were also many Runes Lei Mo could not understand and from which he could sense no fluctuations whatsoever.

Lei Mo judged that either he lacked the talent for those Laws, or his strength was still insufficient.

Either his level was too low, or the corresponding Mystery Runes were too high-level. Over the remaining twenty days, Lei Mo comprehended four Runes at a pace of one every five days, in addition to the three Runes he had mastered during the first ten days.

Lei Mo had already surpassed his master Palo and become a seven-Rune Engraver, though he had never heard of Rune Engravers having ranks.

Still, Lei Mo felt that he was more impressive now. In his heart, he awarded himself a prize! Thirty days had passed, and he had neither eaten nor drunk anything, yet he felt absolutely nothing.

Could it be that he truly had reached the Saint Realm? Then he could only be a Saint Realm Archmage. It was impossible for him to be a Saint Realm Warrior.

Who had ever seen a Saint Realm Archmage unable to cast even a single spell? He was a complete counterfeit, wasn't he?